Positivity seen as top characteristic for CFOs

When
editors of The
Zweig
Letter asked for
comments on the topic for an article published in the
July 25 edition of the weekly management publication, all agreed that a
successful CFO displays strong leadership capabilities and plays a
major role
in the strategic positioning of the company’s interests,
ultimately
contributing immensely to growth.

Woodard
& Curran,an
engineering,
science, and operations firm, based in Portland, Maine, cites the
desire for a
strong, vested senior executive who could help the firm manage its
growth
strategically as the primary reason for a recent CFO transition, CEO
Douglas
McKeown told TZL.

“One
risk to watch out for
with CPA-trained CFOs (which I think is important) is the tendency to
let their
audit background creep in to the point where they are telling you what
you can’t
do vs.
what you can
do,” McKeown said. “I think they are
conditioned to find what might be wrong against a prescribed audit
process and
to report that vs.
looking for what might be possible. But that skill—
when managed right— is very valuable. It just can’t
dominate their
perspective.”

Carl
von Hake, CFO of JBA
Consulting Engineers in Las
Vegas, Nev., comments on this phenomenon, “I
think the reason why many accounting folks tell people what they can’t
do is because the accounting staff becomes the keeper of processes,
policies
and procedures. When these are violated, the accounting staff tries to
keep it
from happening and, on the back end, becomes the snitch,”

“A
finance chief has to be a trusted advisor and not just someone
who puts numbers into reports,” von Hake added.

Beyond
the given technical ability to juggle the numbers, empathy
was among the most attractive CFO traits listed by leaders.

A
fear or unwillingness to share bad news, closed-mindedness, and
operating with a closed-door policy are additional undesirable
penchants, as
well as providing data in a way that cannot be easily
interpreted, said
Herman Thun, principal architect for LZT
Architects, Inc. in Austin,
Texas.

“Our
CFO is doing a great job because she keeps me informed
regularly of our cash flow needs, our aged accounts, our yearly budget,
our
direct vs.
indirect percentage, and she keeps on top of the invoicing
cycle,” he says. “She is also knowledgeable about
various projects, is open to
discussing invoicing issues on projects, is very approachable,
understands the
business of architecture, is friendly, keeps an open link with other
CFOs, is
honest, and is willing to change course in the middle of the
stream.”